Katy Perry praised Taylor Swift’s songwriting skills as she responded to an American Idol contestant’s apology for being a fan of the Bad Blood star.

The Swish Swish singer is one of the new judges on the rebooted U.S. TV talent show, alongside Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. She’s been hitting headlines with her appearances on the programme so far, such as when she planted a smacker on an auditionee who stated that he’d never kissed a girl on the lips, and Sunday night’s episode was no different.

After Luke asked one singer who he looks up to as a musical artist, the guitar-carrying contestant replied, somewhat nervously: “I’m sorry for this Katy… Taylor Swift.”

Katy reassured the young man, “Oh, you don’t have to be sorry,” before he emphasized, “I love Taylor Swift”.

“I love her, as a songwriter, as well,” Katy hit back, before shrugging.

The audition was included in a montage showing how many singers make bad first impressions on the programme, so viewers didn’t get to find out how Katy responded to his performance.

Taylor and Katy reportedly fell out in 2013 after three backing dancers agreed to leave Taylor’s The Red Tour early to join Katy’s Prismatic trek.

Katy attempted to bury the hatchet last year when she told journalist Arianna Huffington she was “sorry” for the dispute on her Thrive Global podcast, but Taylor has yet to publicly respond to her rival’s apology – and back in 2015 said she would “never” discuss her competitors in interviews.

Taylor also appeared to mock her rival in the video for her single Look What You Made Me Do, as she was shown destroying the same model of Lamborghini car Katy used in a previous video.